The aftershocks from Alanis Morissette's ''Jagged Little Pill'' haven't subsided since the album was released in 1995. In one pop-culture masterstroke, the album introduced a mainstream audience to what punks, post-punks, riot grrrls and alternative rockers had been shouting for more than a decade: that women were angry, intelligent, carnal, sick of being victims and ready to speak for themselves.

The music business has decided to get behind the Angry Young Woman. Alanis Morissette's five-million-album sales and six Grammy nominations ratify what college radio stations and music critics have been proclaiming for years: that a new female archetype -- uninhibited and smart, bruised and resilient, unorthodox and proud of it -- has finally established itself.

After a few months when rock has dominated the Billboard album charts, hip-hop and R&B have returned recently with the release of several big sellers including R. Kelly and the Ying Yang Twins. This week another potential R&B hit will be released:...